Gas-engine



(No Model.) I

, J. LABATAILLB &;.J. J. G RAIV'F,

" Y GAS'ENGINE.

` N0. 517,821. Patented Apr. s', 1894.

lha l I J le l f x INI; H1 1| l rriLl In hh* {Illlqlllll Ills Ilm.,

"Ex l. H,

,II l

Il Il l Wulf-1.55525 'il @Il Ir-L-LIEL'tn-cs l (l www l I. I

Unire STATES ATENT ririfCE. l

JACQUES LABATAILLE AND AJUSTIN Jj GRA-EF, or SAN FRANCISCO,

CALIFORNIA. A 1

`GAS-ENGINE.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 517,821, datedApril 3,1894.

Application iiled J' une 22, 1893. Serial No. 478,491. (No model.) j

To wZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that we, JACQUES LABATAILLE and JUSTIN J. GRAFF, citizens ofthe United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco andState of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Gas-Engines; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of said invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which itmost nearly appertains to make,use, and practice the same.

Our invention relates to an improved device for producing an electricspark in the cylinder of a gas or vapor engine for the purpose ofigniting the charge of gas that serves by its explosion tb drive thepiston of the engine.

Our improved gas igniter consists of a toothed Wheel similar to aratchet wheel mounted on a shaft inside the cylinder and connectedelectrically with one of the poles of the electric battery, incombination with a spring projection on the piston head, in suchrelation to the ratchet lwheel that as the piston approaches the end ofits stroke the spring projection will strike against one of .the teethofthe wheel /and cause itto rotate the distance of a tooth. The pistonhead and spring projection are connected with the other pole of theelectric battery, so that when the piston starts to return the point ofthe spring projection will brush back over the face of the next toothand create aspark when the projection leaves the point of the tooth,allas hereinafter more fully described.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an elevation of agas engine with a part of the cylinder broken away to show the ignitingdevice, and Fig. 2. is a sectional elevation of the upper part of theengine cylinder showing the electric gas ignitin g device in enlargedparts.

Let A represent the cylinder of a gas or vapor engine and B the piston,which moves in the cylinder. One of the wires C from the electricbattery, which is used to generate the electric spark for ignitingpurposes, is connected with the cylinder of the engine, so that thepiston B, by contact with the cylinder, isl 5o brought into the electriccircuit.

On the piston head Bis abroad steel or other metal 'spring projection D,which may be straight or curved, anden the extreme end of thefspring onone side is a rib c, which forms an offset or' rectangular projection onone Side of the point of the spring. This spring and its rib form one ofthe electrodes of the battery. The-length of this spring and itslocation von Vthe piston head will be readily determined by anycompetent mechanic.

Tothe head or end of the cylinder, and in line with the spring electrodeof the piston head, so as to be actuated by it, we secure a metallicratchet wheel F by means of a spindle g, which passes through a hole inthe cylinder and is insulated from the cylinder by some insulatingsubstance or material interposed between the spindle and the base .ofthe hole. The spindle g is connected by wire h with the other pole ofthe electric battery,

.so that the ratchet wheel is brought into the equal to the length ofone of the ratchet teeth.

A pawl Z'prevents the wheel from rotating backward after it .has been(rotated forward by the spring projection, so that when the piston beginsto move in a reverse direction the rib or angular point of the spring isdrawn across the face of the tooth on which it rests, and as the pointof the' spring leaves the end of thetooth a spark is generated, whichtires the gasin the combustion chamber of the cyl- I inder. Theelfectiveness of this device is produced by the rotation forward of theratchet wheel, because the rotation throws the face of the tooth overwhich the end of the spring passed in making its direct stroke-upward,so that as the spring is drawn back by the retrograde movement of thepiston the end of the spring is pressed upon and rubbed hard over theface of the tooth until itdrops od its end Where the spark is produced.The wheel is thus kept rotating and bringing a new or fresh tooth to beacted upon by the spring projection at each stroke of the piston. Theface of the ratchet teeth may be made as broad as desired and thus givea large contact surface which Will produce a large spark, therebyinsuring a positive ignition of the gas at each stroke of the piston.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim, and desire to secureby LettersPatent, is-

l. An electric igniter for gas engines, consisting of a ratchet Wheelmounted inside the cylinder and electrically connected with one of thepoles of the battery, in combination with a spring projection on thepiston head, connected with the other pole of the battery and adapted toactuate the ratchet Wheel and Set forth. g Y

JACQUES LABATAILLE. JUSTIN J. GRAFF.

Witnesses:

GHAs. J. ARMBRUSTER, JAMES C. ADAMS.

